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Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) is the technology that allows network switches to transmit power and data through an Ethernet cable at the same time. PoE switch streamlines both of the processes of powering and providing data to the device, which makes it a straightforward and reliable device for home network and small enterprise application. This article describes two types of PoE (PoE and PoE+) that are commonly used and provides information on what types of PoE can be used according to different applications.

PoE Versus non-PoE Technology

Power over Ethernet technology facilitates powering a device (such as an IP phone, IP Surveillance Camera, or NVR recorder) over the same Ethernet cable as the data traffic. Figure 1 shows an Ethernet Network with IP camera, PoE Switch, NVR recorder and Wireless router. Compared to non-PoE devices, PoE devices feature with flexibility that allow you to easily place endpoints anywhere in the business, even places where it might be difficult to run a power outlet.

PoE Versus PoE+ Technology

PoE was first defined in the IEEE 802.3af standard. PoE devices utilize PoE standard, which can provide up to 15.4W of DC power to each port. A later standard, IEEE 802.3at, known as PoE+, increases the amount of power to 30 W. The major difference between 802.3af (PoE) and 802.3at (PoE+) is that PoE+ PSEs can provide almost twice as much power over a single Ethernet cable.

Can PoE+ devices work over PoE Ports, Or vice versa? The PoE+ standard provides support for legacy PoE devices, meaning that an IEEE 802.3af powered device (PD) can operate normally when connected to IEEE 802.3at (PoE+) power sourcing equipment (PSE). PoE+ PSEs can supply power to both PoE and PoE+ PDs. However, as PoE+ PDs require more power than PoE PSEs can provide, PoE PSEs can only supply power to PoE PDs.

PoE Switch Or PoE+ Switch

Whether to use PoE or PoE+ switch for your network, you need to calculate your required power budget carefully for all of the PDs you plan to connect. PoE+ IEEE 802.3at devices can supply a maximum of 30 watts per port, while PoE IEEE 802.3af devices can supply a maximum of 15.4 watts per port. However, some power is always lost over the length of the cable, and more power is lost over longer cable runs. The minimum guaranteed power available at the PD is 12.95 watts per port for PoE and 25.5 watts per port for PoE+.

For most endpoints, 802.3af is sufficient but there are devices, such as Video phones or Access Points with multiple radios, which have higher power needs. It’s important to point out that there are other PoE standards currently being developed that will deliver even high levels of power for future applications. Optical switches have a power budget set aside for running the switch itself, and also an amount of power dedicated for PoE endpoints.

FS PoE Switches

FS POE switches can supply power to network equipment such as weather-proof IP cameras, AP and IP telephones. They are featured with high flexibility, high stability and high resistance to electromagnetic interference. All FS PoE switches come with a one-year limited warranty, including any quality problems during the free maintenance. The following above shows 1G PoE Switch with 24 1000BASE-T and 4 SFP ports.

Fiber optic cable can be divided into several types. Usually we see single-mode and multimode fiber types available on the market. Multimode fibers are described by their core and cladding diameters. The diameter of the multi-mode fiber is either 50/125 µm or 62.5/125 µm. At present, there are four commonly used OM (multimode) fibers: OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. Each type of them has different characteristics.

OM Multimode Fiber Standard

Each “OM” has a minimum Modal Bandwidth (MBW) requirement. OM1, OM2, and OM3 are determined by the ISO 11801 standard, which is based on the modal bandwidth of the multi-mode fiber. In August of 2009, TIA/EIA approved and released 492AAAD, which defines the performance criteria for OM4. While they developed the original “OM” designations, IEC has not yet released an approved equivalent standard that will eventually be documented as fiber type A1a.3 in IEC 60793-2-10.

According to the above table,

OM1 cable typically comes with an orange jacket and has a core size of 62.5 micrometers (µm). It can support 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up 33 meters. It is most commonly used for 100 Megabit Ethernet applications

OM2 also has a suggested jacket color of orange. Its core size is 50µm instead of 62.5µm. It supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 82 meters but is more commonly used for 1 Gigabit Ethernet applications.

OM3 has a suggested jacket color of aqua. Like OM2, its core size is 50µm. OM3 supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 300 meters. Besides OM3 is able to support 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters. 10 Gigabit Ethernet is its most common use.

OM4 also has a suggested jacket color of aqua. It is a further improvement to OM3. It also uses a 50µm core but it supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up 550 meters and it supports 100 Gigabit Ethernet at lengths up to 150 meters.

OM1 Vs. OM2 Vs. OM3 Vs. OM4 Fiber

There are several differences between four kinds of multi-mode fiber, and we can see them clearly from the table below:

Diameter: The core diameter of OM1 is 62.5 µm , however, core diameter of the OM2, OM3 and OM4 is 50 µm.

Jacket Color: OM1 and OM2 MMF are generally defined by an orange jacket. OM3 and OM4 are usually defined with an aqua jacket.

Optical Source: OM1 and OM2 commonly use LED light source. However, OM3 and OM4 usually use 850 nm VCSELs.

Bandwidth: At 850 nm the minimal modal bandwidth of OM1 is 200MHz*km, of OM2 is 500MHz*km, of OM3 is 2000MHz*km, of OM4 is 4700MHz*km.

Why Are OM3 & OM4 Fiber Superior to OM1 & OM2?

Both OM1 and OM2 work with LED based equipment that can send hundreds of modes of light down the cable, while OM3 and OM4 fiber are optimized for laser (eg. VCSEL) based equipment that uses fewer modes of light. LEDs can not be turned on/off fast enough to support higher bandwidth applications, while VCSELs are capable of modulation over 10 Gbit/s and are used in many high speed networks. For this reason, OM3 and OM4 are the multimode fibers included in the 40G and 100G Ethernet standard. Now OM1 and OM2 are usually used for 1G which are not suitable for today’s higher-speed networks. OM3 and OM4 are used for 10G mostly at present. But in the future, since OM3 and OM4 can support the 40G and 100G, which may make them the tendency.

Original Source: www.fiber-optic-solutions.com/what-are-om1-om2-om3-and-om4.html

With the price of 100G QSFP28 optics and CFP form factors (CFP module/CFP2/CFP4) dropping down in 2017, 100G technology is becoming more and more popular among data center managers and IT pros in order to cope with the ever-lasting bandwidth needs. However, 100G is not the finish line. CFP multimode source agreement (MSA) demonstrated CFP8 (16X 25 Gb/s) form factor for 400 Gigabit Ethernet at OFC 2017. Although CFP8 module is still in development, it is assured to be popular in the near future. Therefore, this article will have a clearer introduction to 400G CFP8 PAM4 and NRZ modules, and compare with the former CFP modules and 400G CDFP.

Introduction to 400GbE CFP8 Modules

CFP8 module is the latest developing CFP from factor version, which supports eight times and four times the bandwidth density of CFP and CFP2 form factors, respectively. The CFP8 interface supports up to 16 different lanes in each direction with nominal signaling rates of 25Gb/s or 26Gb/s per lane, and either NRZ or PAM4 signaling. As the above image shows, CFP8 is approximately the size of a CFP2 optics. This interface has been generally specified to allow for 16 x 25 Gb/s and 8 x 50 Gb/s mode.

The PAM4 stands for pulse amplitude modulation with four levels. Instead of driving the laser to generate one of the two output amplitudes, like NRZ, PAM4 technology generates four different amplitude levels, meaning a network based on PAM-4 can send twice as much data as an NRZ version.

CFP8 400GBASE-SR16 with NRZ Technology

CFP8 400GBASE-SR16 modules focus on non-return to zero (NRZ) signal modulation Scheme. To use an analogy, it means you’re sending signals in the most simple format: “light on” and “light off.” A ‘1” is transmitted as pulse of light whereas ‘0” is no light output. Based on the currently available fast VCSEL light sources only achieving data rates of 25G, sixteen channels must transmit in parallel to create a 400G data stream.

Due to the design simplicity NRZ, the modulation format of choice for all data rates up to 25Gb/s. 400GBASE-SR16 CFP8 transceivers requires 16 fiber pairs to support a total of 400Gb/s with MPO multimode cables.

What’s New With CFP8 Module?

A CFP8 module is a hot pluggable module. Compared with the former modules, the control and status reporting functions between a host and a CFP8 module use non-data control and status reporting pins on the 124-pin connector. There are three Hardware Control pins, two Hardware Alarm pins, and four pins dedicated to the MDIO interface.

Compared to CFP2/CFP4 MSA Optics

CFP8 is the proposed CFP8 from factor by MSA member companies. It maintains the large size of CFP form factor (nearly the size of CFP2, larger than CFP4 MSA modules), but supports 4x100G i.e. 4x the CFP2. Besides this, CFP8 uses less power than the former CFP form factor modules. There are 400GBASE-SR16 for parallel MMF 16x25G NRZ, and 400GBase-FR8/LR8 duplex SMF 8x50G PAM4 WDM.

CFP8 Vs. CDFP

CFP8 is not the first released 16x25G= 400G modules, but CDFP. 400G CDFP module (CD=400 in Latin), is the four generation CFP form factor. Providing a high level of integration, performance and long-term reliability, the CDFP 400 Gbps interface is available in short- and long-body versions. The specifications are compatible for use with direct attach cables, active optical cables, and connectorized optical modules. The CDFP module will support:

5 meter direct attach cables

100 meter multimode fiber

500 meter parallel single‐mode fiber

2 kilometers of duplex single‐mode fiber

The compact modules are well suited for low power applications using copper, VCSEL or silicon photonics based technology. They also targeted InfiniBand EDR hydra cables and 128GFC applications but so far little market segment pick up. Though relatively new with 2014 and 2015 rev releases, CDFP may be short lived due to the smaller more efficient developing set of CFP8 solutions.

Latest Trend With 400 Gb/s in the Industry

While 400 GbE standard is still a few years away, the need for 400 Gb/s interfaces is here today. The CDFP form factor is already being used in proprietary interfaces to interconnect high performance servers and will soon be used to interconnect switch and router chassis. 400G CFP8 FR8/LR8 PAM4 and 400GBASE-SR16 modules had been displayed at OFC 2017. Finisar, Fujitsu, and oclaro, etc MSA member enterprises will introduce low profile 400G modules in a short period.

These proprietary chassis interconnects have always been massively parallel and will continue because they provide the massive bandwidth needed to interconnect equipment so that multiple chassis perform as one big chassis. While 16 lanes is a fairly wide interface, multiple applications need the maximum amount of bandwidth that can only be provided by many parallel lanes running at the fastest speed available. It seem that CFP8 with the same 16 MPO connectors has much potential than CDFP modules. FS.COM offers a large stock MSA-compliant optical transceivers, including 100G CFP/CFP2/CFP4 MSA, CXP, and QSFP28 transceiver modules. We will keep in path with the informative world, and provide the best services & telecom products to all of our customers.

Optical amplifier, with the introduction in 1990s, conquered the regenerator technology and opened doors to the WDM technology. It is mainly used to amplify an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. There are many types of optical amplifiers, namely Raman amplifiers, erbium doped-fiber amplifiers (EDFAs), and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). This article will make a clearer introduction to SOA amplifier, and analyze its advantages and disadvantages.

The Basics of Semiconductor Optical Amplifier (SOA)

SOA optical amplifiers use the semiconductor as the gain medium, which are designed to be used in general applications to increase optical launch power to compensate for loss of other optical devices. Semiconductor optical amplifiers are often adopted in telecommunication systems in the form of fiber-pigtailed components, operating at signal wavelengths between 0.85 µm and 1.6 µm and generating gains of up to 30 dB. Semiconductor optical amplifier, available in 1310nm, 1400nm, 1500nm, 1600nm wavelength, can be used with singlemode or polarization maintaining fiber input/output.

Key Points of SOA Amplifier

1310 nm, 1400 nm, 1550 nm and 1610 nm wavelength selectable

High fiber-to-fiber gain of 20 dB

Up to 16 dBm output

1 MHz with 10 ns pulse width (optional)

PM Panda fiber input/output (optional)

Similar to lasers, but with non-reflecting ends and broad wavelength emission

Incoming optical signal stimulates emission of light at its own wavelength

Process continues through cavity to amplify signal

Working principle of SOA amplifier

The basic working principle of a SOA is the same as a semiconductor laser but without feedback. SOAs amplify incident light through simulated emission. When the light traveling through the active region, it causes these electrons to lose energy in the form of photons and get back to the ground state. Those stimulated photons have the same wavelength as the optical signal, thus amplifying the optical signal.

SOA Over EFDA in DWDM Networks

As the solution below, 120km Metro Networks by Using an SOA amplifier. You may wonder why not use EDFA in the above networks.

Theoretically, SOA optical amplifiers are not comparable with EDFA in the terms of performance. The noise figure of SOA optical amplifier is typically higher, the gain bandwidth can be similar, SOAs exhibit much stronger nonlinear distortions in the form of self-phase modulation and four-wave mixing. Yet, the semiconductor optical amplifier is of small size and electrical pumped, which is often less expensive than EDFA. Additionally, SOA can be run with a low power laser.

How to Choose SOA Optical Amplifier?

When selecting SOA amplifier, you have to check the every detailed parameter in the product data sheet. But, seriously, do you understand it? No, please read the following part.

The key parameters used to characterize a SOA amplifier are gain, gain bandwidth, saturation output power and noise.

Gain is the factor by which the input signal is amplified and is measured as the ratio of output power to input power (in dB). A higher gain results in higher output optical signal.

Gain bandwidth defines the range of bandwidth where the amplification functions. A wide gain bandwidth is desirable to amplify a wide range of signal wavelengths.

Saturation output power is the maximum output power attainable after amplification beyond which no amplification is reached. It is important that the SOA has a high power saturation level to remain in the linear working region and to have higher dynamic range.

Noise defines the undesired signal within the signal bandwidth which arises due to physical processing in the amplifier. A parameter called noise figure is used to measure the impact of noise which is typically around 5dB.

Conclusion

SOA amplifier is the economic, high-performance solution for long-hual WDM networks. SOA amplifier, due to its features, can be used in Booster and in-line amplification, optical network, general purpose test and measurement and fiber sensing. However, it also has its limit. In semiconductor optical amplifiers, electron-hole recombination occurs which will affect the performance of the whole line. FS offers EDFA, SOA, Raman optical amplifiers of excellent quality and price. For more detailed information, please feel free to contact us.

OM5 multimode fiber, as the advanced version of the old OM4 fiber, is thought to be the future of multimode cabling. It is the Wideband multimode fiber (WBMMF) that can support wavelengths between 850nm and 953nm. It is also designed to support the short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM)—one of the new technology for 40G/100G connection. However, will it be the ideal transmission medium for 40GbE/100GbE cabling solution?

How OM5 Fiber Developed

Over the past thirty years, multimode fiber has been evolved from OM1 to OM5 multimode fiber. OM1 and OM2 fiber, released at the end of 20th century, are the legacy 125µm multimode fiber that are working fine in 10Mb/s, 100Mb/s and 1000Mb/s cabling solution. However, with the high speed data rate like 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s, 100Gb/s and beyond coming into our life, multimode cabling (OM1 and OM2 ) with LEDs can not meet the requirement. The laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 has been developed subsequently. OM4 fiber cable, with the internal construction, possess higher modal bandwidth than OM3 fiber, which is commonly used fiber medium for 40G/100G connection.

But there is a problem. In a 40G layout, fiber optic technicians have to use one MTP fiber and 4 OM4 duplex fibers (total 8 fibers), which is obvious not preferable for high-density cabling networks. So here comes the OM5 fiber. By utilizing SWDM technology, it can greatly reduce fiber count into 2 fibers (4×10G) in 40G networks, 2 fibers (4×25G) in 100G links. OM5 is the lime green multimode fiber, displayed as follows.

OM5 Fiber for 40G/100G SWDM4 Cabling Solution

Reduce fiber count for 40G/100G connection—OM5 fiber as the advanced version of OM3/OM4 fiber, is backward compatible with OM3 and OM4 fiber cabling. And with the SWDM technology, this fiber can only use two OM5 fibers and 40/100G SWDM4 transceivers in 40G and 100G SWDM4 cabling.

Longer-transmission distance—OM5 is designed and specified to support at least four WDM channels at a minimum speed of 28Gbps per channel through the 850-953 window. Compared to OM4 fiber cable, it is specified only to work at the 850 nm window. OM5 multimode fiber delivers higher value to network owners for distances up to 440m (for data rates up to 40Gbps), and allows for smooth migration to 400Gbps for distances up to 150m. While OM4 fiber cover the distance of 350m, 100m over 40G/100G respectively.

Easy management & installation—in 40G/100G network, multimode connectivity together with MTP/MPO systems makes for a more user-friendly solution for data centers as well as building and campus backbones, especially in cable installation, troubleshooting, cleaning, and overall maintenance.

FS OM5 Cable Solution

FS offer Lime green OM5 fibers. All our OM5 fiber cables are guaranteed by End Face Geometry Test, Continuity Test, and 3D interferometry Test to be high quality. Available in LC, SC, FC, ST, etc. Connectors, and the cable length of OM5 fiber can be provided from less than 1 meter to more than 100 meters, which will well meet the needs for 400m transmission of 40G SWDM4 QSFP+ module and 100m transmission of 100G SWDM4 QSFP28 module, as well as the links on the same rack or row.

Not only the OM1/OM2/OM3/OM4/OM5 multimode fibers are provided at FS.COM, but fiber optic cables like singlemode fibers (OS1/OS2) , Twinax copper cables are also offered. For more information about the cost-effective fiber patch cables, Please feel free to contact us via http://www.fs.com.

Cisco, as the big brother in the telecom industry, has dominated the market of networking devices (like routers and switches) for a long time. No one can compete with him. Huawei, however, is the rising star in Chinese market. It ranked 83rd in the latest Fortune 500 list on July 23, 2017. Many people assume that in the near future, Huawei will lead the world instead of Cisco. Thus, in this article, we are going to analyze the strength of Cisco and Huawei, along with the differences between Cisco and Huawei switches.

Cisco Vs Huawei — Brand Awareness and Market Share

Both Cisco and Huawei are the relatively young enterprises, which are founded in 1980s. With 30 years’ development, Cisco was at the top of respondent edge/core router and CES manufacturer leadership scores. Cisco systems mainly offers networking devices, networking management, Cisco IoS/NX-OS software, storage area networks, wireless equipment, data center devices, and interface & modules, etc.

The above table shows the basics of the two companies.

According to Fortune 2017, Huawei, with the revenues of $78.5108 billion rank No.83 in Fortune 500 List, which is also the first time in the top hundred. Huawei is famous for mobile and fixed broadband networks. Recently, their optical switches, multimedia technology, tablet computers also wins the heart of customers. Ren zhengfei, founder of the Huawei Technology, once said, Huawei’s secret of success is our focus and dedication to our customers. Huawei will embrace a better future.

IHS Markit Analysis

In the 2016 study, Cisco along with Juniper, Huawei and Nokia (including Alcatel-Lucent), form a top tier clearly separated by a wide margin from the other manufacturers. There was a big gap between these four and their competitors, with the sole exception being price-to-performance ratio.

We ask carrier survey respondents to rate their familiarity of service provider edge/core router and /or CES manufactures.

Looking at the individual manufacturer selection criteria, for technology innovation and product roadmap, Cisco and Nokia were numbers one and two, respectively. And for price-to-performance ratio, Huawei at number one.

And for the above table, we can see Cisco drops share in router market; Huawei, Juniper gain & market is rising.

For the full year 2016, Cisco declined 3.7% over 2015, while recording 57.0% market share (compared to 60.6% in 2015). In the hotly contested 10GbE segment, Cisco held 53.0% of the market in 4Q16, finishing essentially flat over the previous quarter.

Huawei continued to perform well in both the Ethernet switch and the router markets. For the full year 2016, Huawei’s Ethernet switch revenues grew 61.8%, leading to a market share of 7.0%, compared to 4.4% in 2015.

Why Would People Go for Huawei?

The reasons that Huawei becomes so strong are not only due to the support from the government, but also because of its powerful local support capability. There are bugs in the high-end devices, and this is inevitable. If two Cisco engineers are assigned to solve the problem, Huawei can assign 20 engineers to fix it. Besides, if one major client like CT has customized requirements, Huawei can ask product engineers to work in the CT office as soon as possible, even Cisco cannot do this. This kind of quick response ability is obviously the advantageous factor for Huawei to exceed Cisco in its own home court.

Cisco Vs Huawei — Switch Comparison

There is some relationship between Cisco Switch and Huawei Switch. So Cisco Switch or Huawei Switch? The following comparison simplifies the relationship of Cisco switch and Huawei switch, which can help you select the most suitable switch devices for your office, or company and organizations.

The popular series of Cisco switches are the enterprise switches, Catalyst series and Nexus switches. Cisco Catalyst series includes 2960 series, 3650 series, 3850 series, 4500E series, etc. Cisco Nexus series includes 9000 series, 7000 series, 6000 series, 5000 series, 3000 series, 2000 series, etc. Cisco Catalyst switches are designed for core layers in campus network, while the Nexus is mainly for data centers. Nexus series switches can support Ethernet, Fibre Channel and FCOE all in the same chassis but the catalyst don’t. The catalyst switches support only Ethernet.

Huawei switches also have various series, such as data center switches, campus switches and SOHO & SMB switches. The popular one is the campus switches. In all the campus switches, the S5700 series is the hottest switch. To have a further understanding, the following part will briefly compare Cisco WS-C3850-24T-L and Huawei S5700-28X-LI-AC switches.

S5700-28X-LI-AC is the Huawei S5700 series 10G switches, which are equipped with 24×10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet ports and 4x10GE SFP+ ports.

S=switch

57=5700 Series

00=5700 Sub Series like 5710 series

28=the biggest number of data interfaces is 48, including uplinks and downlinks

Li=S5700 series

AC=Ac power supply

To sum up, each Cisco Catalyst 3850 model, is similar to a S5700 model, or is equivalent to one of Huawei S5700 models, which will not be listed here.

FS.COM White Box switches and Compatible Transceiver Modules

FS 40G/100G white box switches provide high performance, increased availability, low latency and better serviceability for next-generation data centers and enterprise networks in different applications. And they also support spine-leaf network topology that leverage commoditized hardware for the best price/performance, just as shown below.

Besides the 40G/100G white box data center switches, we also provide a full series of compatible transceiver modules including the SFP, SFP+, QSFP+, SFP28, QSFP28, CFP, etc, which are compliant with major brand. Custom service is also available.

Summary

Cisco Vs Huawei, we can’t say which one is better than the other. To be considered the No.1 choice for your network, Cisco switches meet the needs of organizations and offices of all sizes and sorts. As for Huawei, it has several product lines that are similar to Cisco devices, but have their own network hardware lines and IT solutions for different network demands. Besides Cisco and huawei, there are other brand that are also effective and reliable, such as FS enterprise Ethernet switches. For more detailed information, please direct visit fs.com.

Recently, the hot debate between Cisco and Ubiquiti Unifi switches has aroused much attention. Data center managers reckon that Cisco catalyst series switch is undoubtedly the ideal choice than UBNT Unifi switches. While small enterprises have to choose the much cheaper Unifi switches. In the ideal world, they’d love to go with Cisco catalyst 2960, but with a limited budget, they can do nothing about it. So basically, this article will help you look for the best options between Cisco Catalyst 2960 and Unifi switches.

Takes a Big Leap With Cisco Catalyst 2960

Cisco Catalyst 2960 series switches are the layer 2/layer 3 edges, providing 10 and 1 Gigabit Ethernet uplink flexibility, Power over Ethernet Plus(PoE+) access connectivity for enterprise, midmarket and brand office networks. There are Catalyst 2960-S and 2960-X series switches.

Cisco 2960-S is the previous layer 2 access switch with the switching capacity of 176Gbps, 2 20G or 4 1G uplinks and PoE/PoE+ up to 740W.
Cisco 2960-X/2960-XR switches provides the convenience with layer 2 and layer 3 in a single switch with switching capacity of 216Gbps.

Cisco 2960 series supports gigabit access growth for wired and wireless/802.11ac, and more traffic through IP address scalability. And with PoE/PoE+ capacity, Cisco 2960 can be easily and rapidly deployed in many IP endpoints.

Efficient Switch Operation

Cisco Catalyst 2960 series switches provide optimum power savings, low power operations for industry best-in-class power management, and power consumption capabilities. The Catalyst 2960 ports are capable of reduced power modes so that ports not in use can move into a lower power utilization state. In all, Cisco Catalyst switches reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy cost savings and sustainable business behavior.

Unifi Switches is fully managed Gigabit switch, delivering robust performance and intelligent switching for your growing networks. The most popular model of this Unifi Switches is US-24, US-48. According to Ubiquiti networks, Unifi switches have the four following features.

Figure 2 shows the Uniquiti Unifi US-24-250W port analyst.

Multi-Site Management

A single instance of the UniFi Controller running in the cloud can manage multiple UniFi sites within a centralized interface. Each site is logically separated and has its own network monitoring, configuration, maps, statistics, and admin accounts.

Optical Fiber Backhaul

Two SFP ports support uplinks of up to 1 Gbps. For high-capacity uplinks, each 48-port model includes two SFP+ ports for uplinks of up to 10 Gbps.

Non-Blocking Throughput

For its total, non‐blocking throughput, the 24‐port model supports up to 26 Gbps, while the 48-port model supports up to 70 Gbps.

Switching Capacity

The UniFi Switch offers the forwarding capacity to simultaneously process traffic on all ports at line rate without any packet loss.

What Features Does Cisco Switches Have That Are not Addressed by Ubiquiti?

Cisco—Solid brand and construction

Solid software packages

Very ala Carte on their service and components.

Requires Prior knowledge of Cisco Networking. And configuration help from Cisco.

Most will feed a good sized area but you have to configure for overlap.

the controller is a small rack mount box and should be in your data center.

Simple management

Figure 3 shows the network plug-n-play with Cisco APIC-EM.

What Are the Tempting Points of Unifi Switches, Except Costs?

Ubiquiti—Good Brand and construction

Good software and easy to understand

No extra fees other than buying equipment

If you can program a home router you can set this unit up and the guest network with ease.

The controller is software based and easy to install and move should the original crap out or need to be reworked.

You can feed a good size office off of 2 of the Long-Range APs. the controller will handle the overlap for you.

How to Make a Choice Between Ubiquiti and Cisco Switches?

Cost: Price is the biggest incentive in most of the case. A general quote for ubiquiti and Cisco, the Cisco is typically 3 times the cost of ubiquiti. Considering the cost differences between Unifi and Cisco catalyst switches, what makes Cisco so pricey. According to many fiber optic technicians, the ubiquiti system will give them 99% uptime while the Cisco system will give them 99.99% uptime.

Performance: Except the budget, another thing to add into the account is going to be bugs in the code/hardware failures. Within the telecommunication industry, you are not going to find much better, as far as stability is concerned, than Cisco.

Support: With Cisco, you will get some of the best support in the industry. Ubiquiti Unifi switches are quite easy to install and manage. Their controllers are software based, which are quite easy to work with.

Together, If your require a more secure, more robust solution to meet your enterprise and complexity needs, then Cisco is your best option. If you are small to medium sized company and are not trying to create a holo projection of the wheel at every desk. Ubiquiti will be a great fit and should more than meet your needs.

Although there is exact answer to this question, I Insist that you ask several questions inner your mind before taking the next leap.
Q1: Is what case would you absolutely need Cisco and Ubiquiti wouldn’t do the job?
Q2: What features does Cisco products have that are not addressed by Ubiquiti?
Q3: Is this the best solution for me? Can I use other branded switches like FS.COM?
If you have any comment about this topic, please leave your notes with us.